History of Colláge

In 1971 Bruce Roberts graduated college as a
marketing major and Marsha Roberts graduated from the School of Visual Arts
in Manhattan specializing in design.

That year with $800.00 and a rent of
$75.00 per month they opened a gift and handcraft store they called Colláge.

Marsha and Bruce hand crafted jewelry and leather goods, and also they sold
handmade candles and pottery.

In 1972 the couple drove to
Mexico purchasing sterling silver jewelry and handcrafts (tin ware, baskets,
and pottery) to broaden the scope of their product line.

A friend who was opening
a gallery at Tysons Corner purchased the products the two had imported
from Mexico.

From that point forward those first transactions began their
life as Colláge, a wholesale company.

Eventually they were showing their wares at the New York
International Gift Show, Boston Gift Show, and the N.Y. Boutique Show.

Thus from
1972 to 1985 they became major importers of Mexican Handicrafts selling to
Macy's, Jordan March Galleries, and over 500 other independent retailers.

In 1985 they introduced their first sterling silver jewelry line of their own
designs which were subsequently handcrafted in Thailand, Bali, and India.

They
specialized in nature theme jewelry which by then was selling in Macy's, The U.S. National
Park stores, Monterey Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, Brookfield Zoo in Chicago,
and over 1,000 other independent retail stores.

In 1995 using different mediums such as wood, assorted metals, and shell, they
introduced a completely new line of handcrafted Fashion Jewelry.

They incorporated in-house manufacturing and used an array of patina pieces
where the material's versatility
of color was used to create a wide assortment of cleverly designed and unique earrings and pins.

Many of the trends you have seen repeated over the years in the major
jewelry outlets were actually initiated by Bruce and Marsha.

Their ability to combine the manufacturing processes in India, the Philippines and China
with the fine work of their crafts people and natural materials established
numerous long lasting lines of jewelry.

For each season Colláge created 500 new designs to encompass the fashion of the day.

Colláge was showing at all the major trade shows in the United States: N.Y.
International Gift Faire, Atlanta Gift Show, Chicago Gift Show, L.A. Gift
Show, San Francisco Gift Show, Seattle Gift Show and Philadelphia Gift Show;
plus they had over 60 sales representatives throughout the United States.

Even their trade show booth presentation won best of show in Chicago and
New York while being
custom made each season.

They were designing items for major retailers such as
Coldwater Creek, Chicos, Kirklands, Rainforest Café,
Disneyworld, Callaway Gardens, and selling to over 2,400 independent retail
stores that expanded accounts into Europe, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

In 2013 Colláge opened a retail outlet store in Sugar Loaf, NY where they
now offer crafted items from around the world.

Still, some of their items are
manufactured in-house just like always while others are designed by Bruce and
Marsha and assembled in
India, the Philippines, and China.

And things continue getting better, because in 2014 Colláge moved to a
bigger space in Sugar Loaf in order to provide their customers a larger more
convenient selection from their own in-house manufacturing and
from points around the world.

As one local said, "We are lucky to have Colláge ... and so are their
customers."